Sleeping In The Aviary

ARTIST / BAND: SLEEPING IN THE AVIARY

MP3: Sleeping In The Aviary -- "You Don't Have To Drive" / Sleeping In The Aviary - "Y.M.C.A. (No, Not That One)"

ALBUM: Great Vacation!

FILE UNDER: Rock / Classic Rock / Comedy

LABEL: Science Of Sound

INFO:

The lineup of Kozel, Phil Mahlstadt (bass), and Michael Sienkowski (drums) churned out their debut album, Oh, This Old Thing? in 2007. The disc's intense bursts of lo-fi pop-punk drew comparisons to The Thermals, Buzzcocks, Violent Femmes and Nirvana.  Then another side of the band’s musical personality was captured on SITA’s sophomore album from 2008.  Expensive Vomit in a Cheap Hotel was a move towards indie-folk heralded by the addition of fourth member, Celeste Heule, on accordion and musical saw.  Kozel switched from electric to acoustic guitar for many of the songs, and also found himself screaming just a little less, exposing more of a tender side. This album cued comparisons to artists such as Neutral Milk Hotel, Bright Eyes, Baptist Generals and even Bob Dylan.
For 2010, Great Vacation once again finds the band in fresh musical territory, and also with a newly-added fifth member; Kyle Sobczak on guitar.  Layers of backup vocals (including multiple tracks of gargling, which Kozel describes as “the new reverb”) and additional instruments such as harp, trumpet, banjo and mouth harp accompany stories of scuba diving, sinking on a ship, space-like love, an S&M session gone awry (or did it?) and the occurrence of irony the day before one dies.  The ten songs on the album were tracked and mixed by the band themselves in their Minneapolis attic.